American  Stringed  Musical  Instruments 
by 

Daniel  G.  Erinton,  M.  D. 

- 


mcroft  Library 

MIGRATIONS   IN   THE   ATLANTIC    SLOPE.  JQ 

There  appears  to  be  no  other  foundation  for  the  opinion 
advanced  by  Catlin  that  the  Mandans  once  lived  on  the  Ohio, 
than  their  somewhat  advanced  culture,  the  character  of  their 
dwellings,  and  the  fact  that  they  were  agriculturists.  This 
opinion  probably  arose  in  some  way  out  of  a  supposed  connec 
tion  between  them  and  the  builders  of  the  mounds  of  Ohio.  It 
is  more  probable  they  were  people  formerly  known  in  north 
western  Wisconsin  as  the  "  Ground-House  Indians,"  of  whom  we 
have  but  a  dim,  though  seemingly  strictly  reliable  tradition, 
They  were  probably  driven  southward  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
the  Missouri  river,  where  they  began  the  cultivation  of  maize, 
then,  like  other  cognate  tribes,  moved  westward  up  the  Missouri 
river. 


NATIVE  AMERICAN  STRINGED  MUSICAL  INSTRU 
MENT^^  fe-Vl^6 
BY  DANIEL  G^BRINTON,  M.  D. 

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Musical  instruments  are  of  three  classes,  the  first  and 
earliest  being  where  the  sound  is  produced  by  percussion,  as 
a  drum  or  gong  ;  the  second  includes  wind-instruments,  as 
flutes  and  conches;  and  the  third  and  highest  embraces  the 
various  forms  of  stringed  instruments,  where  a  vibrating 
cord  developes  the  musical  note. 

It  is  generally  stated  that  the  American  Indians  at  the 
time  of  the  discovery  did  not  use  anywhere  on  the  continent 
a  stringed  instrument.  I  have  found,  however,  four  exam 
ples  which  seem  to  controvert  this,  and  I  give  them  in  the 
hope  that  readers  of  the  THE  ANTIQUARIAN  will  be  able  to 
add  to  their  number. 

The  first  is  the  Quijongo  of  Central  America.  This  is  a 
monochord,  made  by  fastening  a'  wooden  bow  with  a 
stretched  cord,  over  the  mouth  of  a  gourd  or  jar  which 
serves  as  a  resonator.  The  bow  is  usually  a  hollow  reed 
about  five  feet  long,  and  the  resonator  is  attached  at  one- 
third  the  distance  from  one  end.  Tfcie  string  is  then  bent 
down  and  fastened  to  the  mouth  of  the  jar.  The  notes  are 
produced  by  striking  the  two  sections  of  the  string  with  a 
light  stick,  and  at  the  same  time  the  opening  of  the  jar  is 
more  or  less  closed  by  the  palm  of  the  hand,  thus  producing 
a  variety  in  the  notes. 

I  have  given  a  cut  of  this  instrument  in  the  introduction  to 
the  Comedy  Ballet  of  Guegueace,  p,  xx^i  -(Philadelphia, 


20  THE   AMERICAN    ANTIQUARIAN. 

1883).  Professor).  F.  Ferraz,  in  his  work,  Nahuatlismos  de 
Costa  Rica,  p.  106,  says  the  name  is  from  the  Nahuatl  or 
Aztec  language,  but  its  exact  derivation  is  unknown. 

The  Apache  Indians  in  some  of  their  ceremonies  made  use 
of  a  small  stringed  instrument,  of  one  cord,  known  as  the 
"Apache  fiddle."  Several  specimens  are  now  in  the  museum 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  The  resonator  is  a  hol 
low  reed  about  a  foot  in  length,  over  which  is  stretched  a 
strand  composed  of  six  or  eight  horse-hairs.  The  strand  is 
at  one  end,  wrapped  around  a  movable  cross-bar,  which 
allows  it  to  be  tightened  at  will.  The  cord  is  sounded  by 
means  of  a  bow  with  a  horse-hair  string.  There  is  some 
doubt  whether  this  is  a  genuine  aboriginal  invention.  The 
specimens  were  obtained  by  Captains  Bourke  and  McCauley 
of  the  United  States  army.  The  former  does  not  refer  to  it 
in  his  "Medicine  Men  of  the  Apaches." 

The  third  example  is  mentioned  by  James  Adair  in  his 
History  of  the  American  Indians,  p.  175.  He  relates  that  in 
1746  he  was  among  the  "  Mississippi-Nachee"  Indians,  and 
witnessed  a  performance  "on  one  of  their  old  sacred  musi 
cal  instruments."  He  described  it  as  "about  five  feet  long 
and  a  foot  wide  on  the  head  part  of  the  board,  with  eight 
strings  made  out  of  the  sinews  of  a  large  buffalo."  The 
player  "held  the  instrument  between  his  feet,  and  along 
side  of  his  chin,  took  one  end  of  the  bow,  while  a  lusty  fel 
low  held  the  other.  By  sweating  labor  they  scraped  out 
such  harsh  sounds  as  might  have  been  sufficient  to  drive  out 
the  devil,  if  he  lay  in  the  house." 

The  fourth  is  a  specimen  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New 
York.  It  is  a  reed  about  five  feet'  long,  with  a  jar  fastened 
at  the  middle  point,  above  which  is  a  bridge.  To  this  are 
attached  four  strings  of  different  lengths.  This  is  marked  as 
from  the  Upper  Purus  River,  Brazil,  "Apurman  Indians." 
No  such  tribe  and  no  such  instrument  are  mentioned  by  Mar 
tins,  Markharn,  Ehrenreich,  Von  den  Steiner  or  Polak,  so  I 
can  add  nothing  to  the  information  on  the  label. 

It  is  possible  that  in  all  these  cases  the  instruments  were 
borrowed  with  modifications  from  the  whites  or  negroes  ; 
but  there  is  sufficient  probability  that  they  were  aboriginal 
American  inventions  to  make  their  further  study  desirable. 

The  stringed  instrument  sometimes  found  in  Central 
America,  made  by  stretching  cords  over  the  concave  cara 
pace  of  an  armadillo  or  turtle,  must  be  modern,  as  it  has  no 
native  name  in  either  ^Maya  or  Nahuatl  ;  as  is  undoubtedly 
the  Yakatat,  or  native'  fiddle  of  Alaska. 


